The most common estate plan in America says, in effect: "When I die, my kids get everything outright." It is the simplest plan to write and one of the most expensive to receive.
What "outright" really means
An outright bequest hands assets to the beneficiary the day the estate closes. From that moment, those assets are exposed to every creditor, predator, and life event the beneficiary encounters — divorces, lawsuits, business failures, well-meaning but disastrous investments, a single bad year.
What a trust does differently
A properly drafted trust holds the assets in a structure that is legally separate from the beneficiary. The beneficiary can use the assets — for support, for education, for a home — but the assets themselves are protected. From the beneficiary's divorce. From the beneficiary's creditors. From a beneficiary who, at 28, simply isn't ready.
The common objection
"My kids would be insulted." This is the conversation we have almost weekly. The honest answer is: a trust isn't a vote against your child. It is a vote for the version of your child who hasn't met their hardest year yet.
The cost
A trust costs more to set up than a basic will — usually a thousand or two more. It costs almost nothing to administer if your kids are responsible. And it pays for itself the first time it does its job.